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Just bought a 2007 Civic Hybrid, and I'll NEVER buy another hybrid car!

That's right, I'm keeping the HCH until I'm able to purchase an ALL ELECTRIC car. (Scared you guys, didn't I?)

I'm halfway through my fifth tank of gas since purchase, and it's going to be my first 50 mpg tank. But in 5-6 years, I want to laugh at the INEFFICIENCY of the Civic Hybrid the way that I laugh at the inefficiency of my previous SUV (a 24 mpg Honda Element). I want to chuckle at the fact that I used to burn fossil fuels to get from place to place.

I seriously doubt this car will have a GM badge, but whatever. I'm holding out for the holy grail of personal transport.

Pretty cool if you ask me. I wonder if they sell the Greenline and the Diesel models simultaneously, like VW is planning with the Jetta hybrid & TDI models, or replace the hybrid with the diesel, like Honda is doing with the Accord...

Real Hybrids

You need to take into account how most Americans drive to determine what cars are real hybrids. Most Americans do most of their driving commuting in their cars alone. A vehicle that does not get as good gas mileage as a common commuter car should not be considered a real hybrid, because it is not contributing to reducing America's fuel consumption. Common commuter cars are the Chevy Cobalt at 22/32/26, the Malibu at 22/30/25, the Chrysler Sebring at 21/30/24 and the Ford Focus at 23/31/26. The Saturn Aura Greenline at 24/32/27 is a real hybrid because it is part of the solution, not part of the problem. The Saturn Vue Greenline at 23/29/26, the Chevy Silverado at 16/19/17, the Toyota Highlander/Lexus RX at 28/25/26, and the Lexus GS 450h at 22/ 25/ 23 are the fake hybrids. They are false environmentalist statements and have no business traveling in the HOV lane without passengers. They are part of the problem. Almost all of the people who buy them would consume less fuel if they bought one of the commuter cars above and a ten year old minivan, SUV or pickup for those rare trips when they have more than 5 passengers or loads over 1000 Lb. Please note that all of the fake hybrids are made by GM and Toyota, so if you criticize one you should criticize the other. I would consider buying an Aura Greenline because it is the only hybrid car in its price range with electronic stability control, something the Japanese charge you 25K or more to get. The Accord did not sell well because most people do not want to pay 31K for an economical commuter car. At 22-23K the Aura Greenline is in line with other commuter cars. I hope that when the Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion come out they will have electronic stability control, a price as low as the Saturn and better fuel economy.

Fake Hybrid....

Then in that case I love my "fake" hybrid. I went from a 1995 Saturn SC2 that averaged 33.5 mpg to a "fake" 2007 Saturn Vue Hybrid that averages 31.5 mpg and has enough room to hold our road bikes when we travel. 2 mpg less with much more space - a trade off that I will take anyday.

I wonder if dfschim averages better than 31.5 mpg? The vast majority of Americans don't.

I drive a Ford Focus and average 32 mpg on road trips. According to the new 2008 MPG calculations a 2002 Focus gets 23/29/25 and a 1995 SC2 gets 21/31/25, essentially the same. What is different is that all of the cars I mentioned are significantly larger than an SC2. The SC2 has 37.5 inches of headroom, 77 cubic feet of interior area and 11 cubic feet of trunk space. The Cobalt has 38.7, 87, 13.9, the Malibu has 39.4, 97.7, 14.9, the Sebring has 40.1, 100.9, 13, the Focus has 39.1, 94, 17.6, and the Vue has 40.6, 100.3 , 30.8. All of the cars I mentioned except the Cobalt can tow a trailer, and have essentially the same interior room as the Vue except for the trunk space. My Focus hatchback can easily fit two road bicycles in the back with the seat down. All of the cars I mentioned could fit the bikes on a roof rack, and all but the Cobalt could pull them on a very lightweight trailer. I am perfectly fine with people who actually use the extra capabilities of an SUV; carrying two adults, four children and towing a boat would be a good example of this. My point was that most people who drive around in them do so alone with their trunks empty for all but a few days a year. They would be better served and save fuel and money by driving an efficient compact or mid-size car and renting a truck for a few days a year than having a hybrid SUV.

Prius Fad

I have driven many Prius including my freinds.

I dont care for the car. Its very deceptive and causing major problems for the USA. I real leaders were GM with the EV1 and older electric cars. The evil people are the oil companies... Chevron who made Gm sell the batteries technology to them. Chevron has a stipulation that you have to power a Nickel Metal with gas ie hybrid....

I looked up the Detroit Electric in 1918 got 40 miles on a charge and never used a drop of fuel..
Now that was advanced.

My opinion is the Prius is a big Fad and people who buy it are not reading the true story. Most of the Prius owners have large homes that waste tons of electricity and heating fuel. ( But they can look Green) They waste money and causing more air smog by causing new cars to be built. Plus all the money in one of these goes straight to a foreign country. Only 1/8 of the money in this car goes back to the USA. Where when you buy an American car no matter where its built 85% of the money goes back into the USA.

I looked up the first electric car was the Detroit Electric in 1918 got 40 miles on a charge and used no gas at all.

Hybrids come from technologies that are not established. IE. Hybrid TV sets of the 1960s Transistor/Tube. Now its all Transistors or IC's. The only car you will see in 20 years is all EV you wont see any hybrids because they will be in-efficient.

First of all Prius is Very frumpy

Second you can get better millage on many cars close on some SUVs like the Ford escape.

IN Washington DC I see all the Prius owners ride around in the 100 degree heat with the windows open because when the AC is running the car has to be on Engine Only mode no EV. So you get like 30 MPG ... Funny how the famous car fails when you have heat.

The correct figures on Prius are like 40 City.

I have friends who own them and they get about that.

Toyota famous lies is what I cant stand. There cars are not safe in fact I read where the new Tundra failed the crash tests. This company just cares about profits and draining the American dollar to make Japan richer oh and I love the ads " Made in America" what they dont tell you is all the money and profits dont go back into this country. Infact I read some research you would have to buy 4 toyotas to equal what one GM or Ford puts back into our country.

Its nasty when people sell out to there own country to just be " IN Style"